Hello again readers, and welcome back to the Library blog. In maritime news today, the USNSRappahannockopened fire on a small motorized vessel after the vessel repeated ignored warnings to stop approaching her. Since the attack on the USSCole, ships have been exceedingly wary of small boats approaching them for fear of suffering the same fate. The matter is currently under investigation, and further information can be hadhere.

This incident comes almost exactly 149 years after a similar violent episode in the world of maritime commerce. In 1863, the unarmed American mail steamerPembrokewas not only approached but fired upon by an armed Japanese gunboat in the Shimonoseki straits. The Japanese gunboat was under the command of the rebellious Choshu clan that controlled the land on the northern bank of the strait, and the internal political tensions of the time lead the Choshu to disregard the laws of neutrality and directly attack foreign ships trying to use the straits, including thePembroke. On July 16^th1863, the USSWyomingarrived at the straits and quickly destroyed the Choshu forts and ships there, making the way temporarily safe for commercial traffic.Read more